Ms. Rachel — or, off-screen, Rachel Accurso — is no stranger to sharing her views. Frequently, the children’s entertainer and activist posts simple writings on Instagram with bold human rights statements, like “It’s wrong to be silent during a genocide,” and “Black boys deserve to grow up.”
But on the latest episode of “Subway Takes” — a video series hosted by artist and comedian Kareem Rahma where New Yorkers share their “hot takes” on the subway — Accurso made a couple of stances even clearer.
The first one may have taken viewers by surprise.
“Some nursery rhymes and kids’ songs need to be retired,” Accurso said, clad in a light pink cardigan and matching headband.
Rahma is easily swayed: “100% agreed. It’s time for a new crop.”
He then asked Accurso which nursery rhymes she would like to remove from the zeitgeist. She starts gently, saying that some can be changed, rather than retired altogether. Take “Three Little Kittens,” she said, a nursery rhyme about three little kittens who lose their mittens and are later denied pie by their mother.
“I feel like [the kitten’s mom] can give them some strategies for not losing their mittens all the time,” Accurso said with a giggle and a shrug. “So that one, maybe change a little bit.”
But then, she clarifies that the nursery rhymes that “really need to be retired” are “racist ones.”
She tells Rahma that the songs that fall into this category are “Jimmy Crack Corn” and “Oh! Susanna,” which both have ties to blackface minstrelsy, and “Eeny Meeny Miny Moe,” which originated in 19th century America with a racial slur in its lyrics.
“People are like, ‘What will we do?’ and I’m like, you know how many wonderful nursery rhymes and kids’ songs exist?” Accurso said. “And, we can make new ones! Like, it’s okay.”
The two joke a bit more about original songs — of which Accurso has composed many — but then she sobers up even more to deliver the most important take.
“No child should be in an immigration detention center,” Accurso says bluntly.
“100% agree,” Rahma affirms.
“The medical neglect is abuse in there,” Accurso says passionately. “Some pediatricians I’ve talked to even say torture.”
Accurso has been vocal about calling for the closure of detention centers across the country, as United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement ramps up raids nationwide. She has shared letters of children in detention centers to members of Congress and has come to sing alongside families outside of Delaney Hall in New Jersey.
Back on the subway, Rahma asks Accurso why members of the Trump administration continue these practices.
“Many of them have children, and they don’t see their children in those children,” he said, puzzled.
“The adults of the world have a responsibility to take care of all the kids,” she responded. “It’s one of our most sacred responsibilities. But we just keep killing and maiming and harming kids.”
They pivot their conversation to the number of children estimated to have been killed in Gaza, another cause close to Accurso’s heart.
“I always think, Kareem, that when this comes out, the world’s gonna act,” she said, alluding to any number of atrocities in the news. “And then, like, there’s two days when some of us say, ‘Hey, look at this,’ and then it goes back to silence.”
Accurso and Rahma share a moment of frustration, and then, in her classic Ms. Rachel style, she says, “But at least we’re talking about it.”
Rahma nods as Accurso concludes. “That’s something.”
Watch Ms. Rachel’s full Subway Takes episode below.
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Featured Image: @subwaytakes/Instagram
